Bavaria

Recent summers in Europe have been the driest in the past two millennia, according to a recent international study based on tree ring analysis. Using a specific method, the team led by Ulf Büntgen of the University of Cambridge succeeded in creating a massive dataset that traces hydroclimatic conditions in Central Europe from Roman times to the present.

For the work, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Büntgen and his colleagues from the Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland took more than 27,000 measurements on tree rings from 147 oak trees, covering a period of 2,100 years (75 B.C. to 2018). The samples came from historic wells, buildings, and pile dwellings, as well as from archaeological remains and shore sediments, and also from living trees from what is now the Czech Republic and parts of southeastern Bavaria.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has announced that Germany will impose a travel ban from Austria's province Tyrol and "border regions of the Czech Republic" in an effort to curb the spread of more potent Covid-19 mutations. Tyrol has seen an increase in new infections of the 501.V2 variant that was first detected in South Africa.

“The states of Bavaria and Saxony today asked the government to class Tyrol and the border regions of the Czech Republic as virus mutation areas, and to implement border controls,” so Seehofer. “That has been agreed with the (German) chancellor and the vice-chancellor.”

For a year now, the road maintenance department in Dingolfing has been using cucumber water instead of liquid salt to make the roads safe in winter. The verdict so far has been very good - the cucumber water works best and is kind to the environment at the same time.

In the future, the use of cucumber water in Dingolfing is expected to replace and thus save up to 1,000 tonnes of road salt. The wastewater from the pickle production of the delicatessen manufacturer Develey now replaces a large part of the liquid brine made from salt for winter road maintenance. For the past year, the water with seven per cent salt content has been converted into 21 per cent brine and then spread on the roads against ice and snow in liquid form by the clearing and gritting vehicles.

In Bavaria, from next Monday onwards, there will be an obligation to wear FFP2 masks in public transport and in retail. This was decided by the cabinet on Tuesday in Munich, as Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) said.

Söder said the "normal community masks" are in the Corona pandemic to protect others. FFP2 masks also protect the wearer himself. The goal, he said, is to improve safety in public transportation and commerce.

"Availability in trade is sufficiently guaranteed, so there is no shortage of FFP2," the prime minister stressed.

Because of the ongoing Covid19 situation in Bavaria, Minister-President Markus Söder has now called officially a case of disaster. The infection numbers have to go down, he said on Sunday. New restrictions, especially curfews will be in effect beginning with Wednesday, December the 9th.

The German Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has stated that Germany has "made it clear that politics concerning the country of Thailand should not be based on German soil" and that the Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn would be "permanently" under review while he is Germany.

The King has spent part of the Covid-19 lockdown in Germany in a luxury hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and owns a property in Bavaria.

Police units are apparently exposed to a higher corona risk than other professional groups. According to a query by the "Rheinische Post" at the state interior ministries and the federal police, more than 1,000 officials have probably contracted Corona since March. The state of Bavaria leads the list with 274 registered cases.

The police union suspects the reasons is the lack of precautions.

The Health Minister of the state Bavaria and the President of the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety have announced that out of 85,000 Covid-19 tests around 44,000 results haven't been communicated to the tested people.

Among these results are 900 positives ones. According to Bavarian Health Minister Melanie Huml "there is a transmission problem, there's nothing to gloss over" as most of the data needs the be entered manually into the systems.

She stated that is has top priority to inform the people that have testes positive and that they should be informed by noon tomorrow. Currently, the wait for test results takes often a week or longer.

A first warrant has been carried out in connection with the investigation into the threatening emails for the right-wing NSU 2.0 network. The apartment of a 63-year-old former police officer has been searched in Landshut (Bavaria). Three illegal firearms were found (1 pump gun and two handguns). The Attorney General's Office is now investigating a violation of the Arms Act.

Bavarian State Government endorsed the easyCredit BBL concept for a playoff tournament to appoint the 2020 German Basketball Champions. The easyCredit BBL Final Tournament 2020 will be played in Munich's Audi Dome by ten teams -- the other seven clubs of the BBL decided not to compete in the tournament

German Basketball paused its competitions on March 8, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the spread of the coronavirus the premier of the German state Bavaria, Markus Söder, has announced that the Oktoberfest has been canceled. "Based on the current situation, I can not imagine that such a large event would even be possible at that time", he said.

According to recent figures, Germany now counts 32,400 coronavirus infections. Particularly affected states are North Rhine-Westphalia with more than 9000 cases, Bavaria with more than 6300 and Baden-Württemberg with more than 5800 cases. 150 total deaths have been reported.